Bear in mind, lethality of weapons like these has been based on measuring the mortality _without_ treatment, and all who survived received prompt treatment.
Unfortunately Charley Rowley, who unwittingly discovered the container used by the Skripal’s poisoners, was not treated so promptly and later died
They used the same drug on Skripals, and both of them survived. The issues is that the drug is very tricky to dose right, especially since they seem to aim for killing people slowly and with some (now obviously failed too) plausible deniability. If they would just give people a sure dose that would kill them instantly, it would be obvious what they died from and where.
The Skripal case: wasn't that the case where a supposedly "Weapons-Grade Nerve Agent", instead of killing hundreds of people in the area within minutes, only managed to affect 5 people. And of those five people only one died.
If I had been paying for that "Weapons-Grade Nerve Agent" I'd be asking for my money back!
Yes, I believe the deployment of Sarin by the cultists was botched. While they had 5L they used it incorrectly. I can't remember where but I think I read something like 100x the deaths if properly distributed.
It's not that they failed to guess the dose, it's likely that the rapid treatment saved his life:
> "a new and improved version of the Novichok agent, which has not been encountered in the world before", was used in Navalny's poisoning. This new type of Novichok is more toxic and dangerous than its previously known variants, but acts more slowly. It had been planned that Navalny would die on board the plane, but he had survived "thanks to a sequence of successful coincidences: the quick reaction of the pilot who made an emergency landing, and the doctors in Omsk, who immediately injected Navalny with atropine". [1]
> And in one famous case, injected by a secret agent using an umbrella
I think you're mixing up the Litvinenko murder, which used polonium in a beverage, and Makenko, who got injected with poision with the tip of an umbrella.
In the past they used radioactive poisoning which is pretty easy to trace back and caused collateral damage. That's problematic. Poison is very dependent on dosage and delivery without compromising the agent might be tricky.
Makes sense in some way. But why "Novichok" did not work then, if it is so scary super-duper chemical weapon? Both of the victims are cured.
Basically western mass media was talking that only Russia has a formula for Novichok form the beginning, how did they came up to know that is is Novichok without having the formula? If anyone can have that formula to compare or to detect that poison, is there any evidence that it was originally produced by Russia?
Oh of course, but those who had not yet been poisoned were protected. I guess I'm agreeing with you and adding the caveat that nearly everyone is already poisoned.
Unfortunately Charley Rowley, who unwittingly discovered the container used by the Skripal’s poisoners, was not treated so promptly and later died
https://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2018/04/06/myth-...
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